Nicki Minaj responded to the mass kidnapping of 303 children and 12 teachers from St. Mary's School in Nigeria with prayer for hostages' safe return.

Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in north-central Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped captivity and are now with their families, the school authority said Sunday, as the pope called for the immediate release of those still missing.

Both Christians and Muslims have been slaughtered in Nigeria, where there is terrorist activity over economic questions, Pope Leo XIV said Tuesday.

During the Nov. 23 Angelus prayer, Pope Leo XIV appealed for the release of over 300 children and teachers abducted from a Catholic school in central Nigeria.

Fifty of the 303 schoolchildren abducted from a Catholic school in Nigeria’s Niger state have escaped and are now with their families, as Pope Leo XIV calls on kidnappers to free the others.

Pope Leo XIV on Sunday called for the release of Catholic school students and teachers – among them more than 300 girls and boys aged 12-18 – taken hostage this week in Nigeria, and for the release of clerics taken hostage this week in Cameroon.

Pope Leo XIV has warned that Christians and Muslims are victims of widespread violence in Nigeria, linking the bloodshed to extremist groups

Father Daniang first met Pope Leo in 2001, when Father Robert Prevost, then prior general of the Augustinians, visited Nigeria. Pope Leo XIV speaks during Mass for the opening of the general chapter of the Order of St. Augustine on Sept. 1, 2025.

After Mass on the Solemnity of Christ the King in St Peter's Square, Pope Leo makes a heartfelt appeal for the release of students and priests kidnapped in recent days in Nigeria and Cameroon.

Leader of the Roman Catholic Church, Pope Leo XIV, has stated that both Christians and Muslims “have been slaughtered” in Nigeria, linking the violence to